


No Sleep Tonight

by NeoVenus22



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-15
Updated: 2011-06-15
Packaged: 2017-10-20 10:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/212059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leslie found herself awake at four in the morning, staring at the ceiling and unable to close her eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Sleep Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: 3x14, 'Road Trip'

Leslie didn't often get a lot of sleep (too much to do), but she found herself awake at four in the morning, staring at the ceiling and unable to close her eyes.

She called Ann.

"Leslie, I love you, but it's early."

"Did I mention that Ben kissed me?"

"Yes, that may have come up, once or twice or fifty million times."

"I can't stop thinking about it."

"That good, huh?"

Had it been that good? Leslie was a bit flummoxed by the question. It'd definitely been good, or else she wouldn't have gone in for seconds, but it wasn't so good that she'd be awake now. If it had been that good, she'd be calling Ben, not Ann.

"Ann, what do I do?"

"Leslie Knope, you are the best problem-solver I have ever met. If anyone can figure this out, it's you. When we met, there was a giant pit by my house. And shortly after that, my ex-boyfriend was living in it. Now the pit's filled and Andy's married and you got me a job at the Parks Department. You can do pretty much anything."

"You're sweet."

"I'm also right. Do you like Ben?"

"Yes, of course."

"And he obviously likes you. You'll work it out."

Leslie nestled her head deeper into her pillow. Ann was right. Wasn't Ann usually right? Of course, Ann had recently dated someone who willingly called himself The Douche in public, but that didn't mean she was wrong, and Leslie had promised the both of them she'd try to be more understanding about that.

"It was a good kiss," she admitted. If it was the kind of thing that could only happen once --and it had to be the kind of thing that could only happen the once-- then she had to look at it positively. And it had been a good kiss. "A great one. Kind of exactly what I imagined it'd be like, but better, because it was real."

There was nothing on Ann's end. Leslie had a sneaking suspicion that Ann had fallen asleep. Yep, that sounded like a snore. Leslie smiled at her phone, feeling a little bit guilty, and hung up. She wasn't entirely sure what she'd been expecting Ann to say, anyway. She already knew that Ann thought Chris's rule was ridiculous and would tell her to ignore it and go with her heart. She thought Leslie and Ben were good together.

And really, as much as Leslie wasn't one hundred percent on board with Ann's latest dating choices, she trusted Ann's opinion of Leslie's own dating life.

Ben's number was in her phone. She'd somehow managed to avoid him all day, though she expected he was trying to do the same. It was just as well, because she had no idea how to communicate 'I liked what we did, I want to do it again, but I can't go anywhere near you because I don't want to be fired.'

Of course, really, now that she thought about it, she could tell him exactly that.

At this point, with no sleep, common sense was well out the window, and couldn't even rear its head. The call went through.

"Mmrph."

"Ben, it's Leslie."

"I have caller ID, you know. Of course, it's too early for me to read it."

"Sorry."

"Is something wrong?" For all of his sleepiness, he sounded genuinely concerned. Leslie hadn't realized he was the sort of person she could call at all hours of the night with a problem. It almost wanted to make her hang up.

"I liked what we did."

Ben took long enough to answer that she wondered if he'd fallen asleep like Ann had. "Yeah, me too."

"And I'd like to do it again."

"Always a good thing to hear." Leslie swore she could hear him smiling through the phone. "But I think there's more to it than that, otherwise you wouldn't be calling me right now."

He was smart and intuitive. Leslie swallowed a sigh. Smart and intuitive, in addition to being caring, invested, attractive, and a good kisser. It took every ounce of strength she had to say, "I can't go anywhere near you."

"Because of Chris's rule."

"The Parks Department is..." Was what? Her life? The greatest thing she'd ever done? "Important to me."

"Me, too," said Ben, sounding serious, and Leslie smiled, glad they were on the same page. "But you're important to me, too." Oh. Leslie's fingers went a little slack, the phone slipped in her hands, and she almost missed what else Ben said. "You're so completely amazing at making people happy, Leslie. Why don't you try making yourself happy, for once?"

"I..."

"Think it over," said Ben. "I know you don't sleep, but I have to. I just want you to think it over. Sometimes you have to take a big risk to win something big in return."

"I think that's poker."

"Just think about it."

"Ben, wait."

"I'm good at that."

She decided to let that comment slide, since she had a more important thought in mind. "Are you going to hate me if I choose wrong?"

"I don't think there's really a 'wrong,' Leslie. If it's right for you, then it's right. So don't worry about that. I promise that nothing you do is going to make me hate you. Nothing."

Something clenched in her and released. "Okay."

"Get some rest. G'night, Knope."

"Night," she said, hanging up. She certainly did not feel any more inclined towards sleep than she had been. She shouldn't have called Ben. She half wanted to throw the phone across the room, but that wouldn't have accomplished anything. Instead, she stuffed it under the pillow next to her.

Think about it. Wasn't that pretty much what she'd already been doing? Obsessively? She had to wonder if Ben really knew her at all, for him to suggest that. And could she really date someone who didn't know anything about her?

(Of course Ben knew her. Which was why he said it, because he knew she'd be doing it anyway. He knew her very well, because he was amazing.)

Think about it. Think it over. Think, think, think. If she turned to one side, she saw the other half of her bed, the pillow lumpy, the blankets very slightly askew. She would've liked to see Ben there, probably snoring. He seemed like he'd snore and deny it the next day.

If she turned to the other side, she saw her alarm clock, announcing the time, waiting patiently to go off in a few hours, even though she woke up before it most mornings. Wake up, go to work, say hi to Ron and April and Andy and Donna and Tom and even Jerry. That had been her life for so long, and could she give it up? Would she have to give it up?

Roll one way, the emptiness she wanted filled. Roll the other way, the fullness she couldn't stand to empty.

Leslie lay on her back, thought, and didn't sleep.


End file.
